Kanta Riley Memorial 

Kanta was born in Kamla Nagar in Delhi, India in 1945 to Babu Ram and Indravati Singhal. She was born fourth of eight children - Madan, Ajay (who is here today), Sheela (who passed away in 2019), Kanta, Krishan, Satya, Shyam and Raj Kumar. Most of her siblings are on livestream today from India, America and Singapore. At home in Delhi, she managed the household accounts and took care of her siblings, giving them treats constantly and arguing with her father on their behalf for extra pocket money for fun outings and sweets.

Kanta studied Philosophy at Miranda House at Delhi University. Kanta was a good student and was also very sporty and loved playing tennis and badminton. At school, she was always a leader and her university wanted her to hold office because of her leadership and determination. 

With her family, Kanta met her husband Chris first in Delhi in 1967 when he was passing through on business, never imagining that they would meet again in London, where they married in 1972. They met because Chris and her brother Ajay were flatmates in London.

Kanta started working as an infant school teacher in Neasden and later progressed as an Advisory teacher and ultimately as the Head Teacher of two primary schools in London. She loved children and loved teaching.

Kanta had two wonderful children: Helen born in 1975 and Neil in 1977. She was a devoted mother and loved spending hours at the park with the kids and taking them to lots of sporting and musical activities. Helen moved away to America but they would still meet at least twice a year, and Neil lives close by in London. Later in life, she was blessed with three grandchildren - Gia (2007), Aaron (2010) and Beatrix (2019) who she adored more than anything.

Kanta was intensely curious about other places and other cultures and was passionate about traveling - she visited over 100 countries throughout the world and was always excited about planning her next trip.  She loved watching detective movies and doing sudoku.

Kanta was deeply loved and will be sorely missed by everyone fortunate enough to know her throughout her life.